Morozova accuses Kiev of regular detainees’ rights violations with impunity

Donetsk, Dec 31 – DAN. Crimes against civilians in connection with the Donbass conflict remain uninvestigated and unpunished with no reaction from Kiev, Donetsk People’s Republic ombudswoman, DPR representative in the Minsk subgroup on humanitarian issues Darya Morozova told the Donetsk News Agency on Thursday.

“Over the past five years, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has regularly reported facts of crimes by Ukraine against civilian population in connection with Donbass events, such as numerous unwarranted detentions, keeping people in custody in unofficial prisons and in isolation from the outside word, cruel treatment and tortures, restriction of the freedom of movement, obstruction to accessing justice etc. There is nobody to get punished for it. The Ukrainian ombudsperson has not initiated a single check into recorded facts,” Morozova said.

In this connection, she urged her Ukrainian counterpart Lyudmila Denisova to focus on the protection of interests of persons involved in the conflict, who are held by Kiev. She said that the Republic is currently looking for some 103 people in the Ukrainian territory. Some of them were detained back in 2014-2015.

“Despite our numerous enquiries, we have not received information from Kiev on any of these persons. Regrettably, I believe that some persons on our list are no longer alive,” the DPR ombudswoman said.

“Kiev could quickly meet its commitments in order to begin to discuss new prisoner exchange phases if the Ukrainian ombudsperson and law-enforcement bodies representatives had a will and cooperated closely,” she said.

Earlier, Morozova denied Denisova’s statement alleging that the Donbass Republics held more than 250 people in detention.*jk